Jayne's New Country Home

Music that Moves Me

While it's very true that I am "musically challenged" and have been known to crack mirrors while singing in the shower, I love to listen to music.

Growing up in the 60's and 70's in England, I grew up hearing what is now classed as Classic Rock and that is what I still enjoy listening to. The bands and artists I fell in love with in the 70's still comprise my favorites.

Unfortunately, I lost my large collection of LP's when I left my husband several years ago. I am in the process now of slowly building a collection of CD's and MP3's of my most favorite music.

Press Photo, Used with Permission

My home and car radios are constantly tuned to KKRW, The Arrow, Houston's Classic Rock Station.

Among my favorite bands, in no particular order, are Jethro Tull, who I fell in love with in 1969, when they released "Living in the Past" as a single in England. Somewhere back in the attic of my parent's home are a series of life-sized paintings I did of Ian Anderson (standing on one leg, playing the flute), Martin Barre and other members of the band.

I have actually only seen Jethro Tull once, several years ago at the Summit in Houston. My own tastes tend to lean towards their more acoustic numbers, such as "Life's a Long Song" and "Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)" and I was disappointed, when I saw them, that their set was mostly hard-rocking numbers.

In the fall of 2003, I was lucky enough to get tickets to "Rub Shoulders With Ian Anderson" at the Verizon Theatre here in Houston. Ian is such an interesting person, with many and diverse interests. It keeps his music alive and always new. I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Photo © JDC 1973

The life-sized pics of Jethro Tull graced my bedroom wall for several years before my passion for David Bowie took over in 1973.

I first got to hear of David Bowie when the album Aladdin Sane and the single Suffragette City came out and everyone at school was listening to him, but I soon found myself intrigued by earlier albums too, such as "The Man Who Sold The World," "Hunky Dory" and "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars."

I have seen Bowie numerous times, both in London, when I lived in England, and in Houston. The first time was at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973 (see picture). We stood on the arms of our chairs for the entire performance and this pic was taken by holding the camera above my head and praying that I at least got him in the shot!

While it's true to say that I am no longer a Bowie nut like I used to be, he was a big part of my life for a long time and I still enjoy listening to his music. The man is constantly evolving and innovative and that's what makes him a lasting success.

Another favorite band is Pink Floyd. Again, my interest began in the mid-seventies, when we would sit in the Sixth Form Common Room at Sunbury Grammar School on breaks and blast our brains out to the turntable in the corner.

At the time, Dark Side of the Moon had just come out, but as is customary for me, when I got interested in them, I delved into their older stuff and soon had a collection of albums such as "Meddle" and "Piper at The Gates of Dawn." Those are no longer in my collection, but I have replaced my lost copies of "Wish You Were Here" and "Delicate Sound of Thunder" with CD versions.

I finally realized my dream of seeing Floyd live in Houston a few years ago, when they played Rice Stadium. It was the most amazing concert, made even more wild by the fact that a Texas thunderstorm approached throughout the performance, and the band had to duel with thunder and lightening, only stopping when their equipment was shorted out by torrential rains!

Another of my favorite bands, dating from around the same time, is the inimitable Yes. They seem to have a whole new following of fans, judging from online conversations I have had, of people who have become interested in them in the past 10 to 15 years, but I still love the old numbers, especially the live versions on Yessongs, which I recently bought in MP3 version to play on my computer.

I've seen Yes three times over the years, once in London (a rather disappointing concert without Jon Anderson singing lead) and twice here in Houston. I've always been impressed with Rick Wakeman and I think the most incredible concert I've ever seen was when I saw him perform "Journey to the Center of the Earth" at Wembley in 1974. The orchestra and band were set up in the middle of the arena, with an ice rink all round and as the music played, the whole story was acted out on the ice - absolutely amazing!

In addition, I met Rick Wakeman in person a few years later when I worked at Heathrow Airport and was able to get his autograph!

Photo © Buzz Person

Crosby, Still and Nash are an enduring favorite, and I think I've seen them more times than any other band, except possibly Eric Clapton. I don't really have much to add about them, except to say one of the biggest thrills of my life was seeing the legendary David Crosby for the first time, right after he got out of jail. He was a surprise guest at a concert at the Southern Star Amphitheatre at Astroworld in Houston and his voice just blew me away to hear him live!

The aforementioned Eric Clapton has to go down as the artist I have seen most. I've lost count of the number of times I have seen him here in Houston, and every performance has been great. I'm not so much into the very bluesy stuff he does now, but he seems to always put on a good show, with many of the old classics included.

Among my other favorites, again in no particular order, are:

The Moody Blues
U2
Peter Gabriel
Carlos Santana
and probably a whole bunch more that haven't come to my mind yet, but will as soon as I turn the radio on!

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